Chapter 13 - Ilana
I stopped pretending.
The moment Avgust’s mouth found mine again, slower this time, more deliberate and certain, something inside me gave in completely. There was no more bargaining with myself, no more reminding my heart that he was dangerous or this was temporary or that I should keep my distance.
I wanted him. So. Fucking. Much.
The realization settled deep inside my chest, heavy and undeniable.
His hands slid over me with intention, not rushed or demanding.
Without any effort, he stood up from his chair, still holding me in his arms, while we continued to kiss and carried me back towards the bed.
I pulled away to look at his face, his eyes bright with an emotion I had never witnessed before.
It wasn’t lust but something else entirely.
Something deeper than mere attraction or the need for sex.
“Avgust?” I whispered his name like a question.
“Um hm?”
Before I could say anything else, he threw me on the bed rather unceremoniously and crawled right on top of me.
I knew exactly what he was thinking, and my mind was going in a very similar direction.
The way he had made me scream his name last night was still fresh in my memory, the thought of it bringing a blush to my cheeks.
“What did you just think of that made you blush?” he asked, his hands sliding around my waist.
“The way you made me orgasm last night,” I whispered honestly, not wanting to lie to him.
“Do you want me to do that again?” he asked, crawling upwards until my back was pinned against the headboard while he hovered over me, his gaze predatory.
“Yes,” I nodded, “but not just with your mouth and fingers this time.”
A smirk came over his face while he toyed with the edge of my sweater. I had decided not to wear pants while dressing up and was in nothing but my sweater and panties, both of which were beginning to come off. His thumb slid inside the waistband of my panties, making me gasp at the touch.
“Then how, Ilana?” his name sounded dirty on my lips, but it made me ache in ways I did not even know possible.
“I want to feel you… inside me,” I replied, tracing my hands over his chest from under his t-shirt. He backed away for one second and took his shirt off in one smooth motion, exposing himself before me.
He was gorgeous. As gorgeous as any man can be.
My hands found the ridges of his abs, which covered his entire abdomen, then moved to his chest, arms, and neck.
He let me explore his body without a single word, his body heat enveloping me entirely.
The way his breath caught at every touch and his breathing grew even more ragged was enough to tell me that I affected him just the way he affected me.
“Ilana,” he whispered my name as my hands began to tread downward, right towards the obvious bulge in his pants. He caught my hand swiftly. “That’s more than enough.”
“But I want you,” I whispered, all the shyness I had felt around him earlier disappearing entirely.
“And you will have me,” he replied, bending until our lips were inches apart, “when I let you have me.”
His lips caught mine before I could voice a protest, while his hand slipped completely inside my panties, where my soaking wet pussy awaited him desperately.
I spread my legs before he even asked me, giving myself to him shamelessly.
Two of his fingers slipped inside me with ease, making me gasp against his mouth.
“Yes, oh god, yes,” I moaned, arching my back to take him deeper inside me.
Avgust increased his pace rhythmically, my back arching further as I neared climax, but just as I was on the cusp of an orgasm, he stopped.
“Don’t stop,” I almost shouted, moving my hand to bring myself to a climax, but he quickly took control of both my hands, pinning them over my head.
“You will only come when I allow you to, princess.”
I gulped; his throaty whisper only making things harder for me. He pulled his fingers out, now slick with my juices, and rubbed them over my lips. I greedily opened my mouth and sucked my own juices off his fingers, his pupils dilating further as he looked at me.
“You are a very naughty slut, Ilana. Has anyone told you that?”
“I love being a slut for you.”
Something had taken over me. I could never have imagined myself saying anything even remotely like this, but I no longer cared.
I wanted Avgust and I was not going to hide my desire for him.
He breathed in sharply at my words and pulled my sweater off my body, exposing my already hardened nipples to his gaze.
I watched as he trailed his tongue around my swollen buds, finally taking them in his mouth and sucked them.
“Oh my god,” I cried out, but Avgust didn’t stop, continuing to torture me. The sweetest kind of torture.
“You like that?” he asked, pulling away while he looked into my eyes.
I nodded, unable to say anything else. Avgust pulled back and slipped my panties off my legs completely as he walked away from the bed.
I lay there naked before him, hot and inviting, and he simply stared.
I could see the need in his eyes as the scent of sex filled the room all around us.
I needed him more than he could imagine.
“Please,” I whispered softly, but it felt as if that was all he needed.
He took off his pants, my eyes widening as his thick, erect cock sprang up before me. My eyes widened at how big he was, my mind wondering how he was ever going to fit inside my tight hole. But I didn’t care. Not one bit. I needed Avgust Chernykh, and I needed him now.
“Please what, Ilana?” he asked, his tone teasing.
“Please fuck me, Avgust.”
He slid on top of me without another word, positioning himself right over my slick opening.
I spread my legs, wrapping them around his torso while he applied pressure, his tip sliding inside me without any assistance.
He engulfed my lips in a kiss as he entered me completely in one single thrust of his hips.
My shout faded in his tongue as it took me a few minutes to adjust to his size.
“Are you okay, princess?”
“Yes,” I nodded, feeling filled in a way that now demanded attention. “Yes, yes, please fuck me hard.”
I did not need to say it twice. He held me close as his movements grew rapidly, our bodies meshing together.
Time blurred. There was heat, and pressure, and the way my body responded to him as if it had been waiting all along.
He took his time, unhurried, making me arch and gasp and clutch at him like I might fall apart if I didn’t.
Every sensation layered on the last until my thoughts scattered completely, until there was nothing but the feeling of him and the way he unraveled me piece by piece.
Both of us gasped loudly as he filled me completely, and I orgasmed with him inside me, our bodies slowing down.
We stayed that way for a few more moments until Avgust pulled out and pulled me against him, both of us silent.
Our heartbeats calming down in unison. Without saying another word, sleep found him while I lay there staring at his handsome face, trying to tell myself that it did not mean as much to me as I thought it did.
I was so, so, so wrong.
***
I tried to sleep but found myself wide awake instead, everything swirling inside my head.
Careful not to wake him up, I slipped out of his arms and found my way back to the table where his laptop was still open.
The house was silent at this hour, helping me focus.
I picked up his shirt from the floor, breathing in his masculine scent, and slipped it over my head.
The laptop screen glowed softly before me.
I didn’t even know what I was looking for at first. I just needed to find out something that would tell me a little more about the auction. I wanted proof that I hadn’t imagined the tension, the patterns, and the unease that had settled over me since I arrived in this city.
As I browsed through the files Avgust had already shown me earlier, my gaze went to the unopened attachment in Avgust’s inbox.
The one from Timofey, which he had closed as soon as it had arrived.
My pulse picked up. I hesitated only for a second before opening it.
The document was dense with redacted names, operations outlined, and territory maps layered with notes and timestamps.
I slipped at first, too tired and unfocused… until my breath caught.
ROMANOV.
I stared at my family name, my mind scrambling to place it in the middle of this dark and jaded world.
Romanov was a rather common Russian name.
It was ancient and heavy with history. This probably meant nothing.
I scrolled below, my stomach dropping even further.
The document outlined details of a family of five siblings of Russian origin, all linked to a recent raid in Miami.
I scrolled further and noticed the chart was divided into columns of approximate ages, builds, hair color, and eye color.
I read everything slowly, my skin prickling.
One of the men was labelled as having dark hair and sharp green eyes, while another was taller, broader, and had lighter brown hair and a scar near his jaw.
Another had fair hair, pale eyes, and was the tallest amongst all.
As I read further, the images of each of my brothers shaped before my eyes.
“No,” I whispered. “No, no, no. It can’t be.”
This had to be a coincidence.
I told myself that again as I read further.
The document outlined suspected criminal ties and whispers of alliances forming that were strategic and had methodical plans of taking control of the key operations in the city of Miami.
It explicitly mentioned how the family had only come to Miami from Russia rather recently and was still staying in the shadows.
But it couldn’t be them. Right?
My brothers were businessmen. Hoteliers.
Restaurateurs. They were here to expand their hotel business in America.
They were nothing but ambitious young men, but not this.
Not criminals. Not Bratva. Not flesh auctions, territory wars, and power plays that ended in bloodshed.
But the descriptions kept matching a little too well.
My hands went cold as I wondered if this might have been their world all along.
Even back in Russia. It was true I had noticed the closed doors, the pistols they carried, the men who came in and out of our house, and the sudden disappearances of one of my brothers from time to time.
None of it was normal, but I had always dismissed it. Never reading too much into it.
This information, the last name and physical details, hadn’t come up in front of Avgust. I knew that.
He hadn’t said it. He hadn’t reacted. Whatever Timofey had sent him, he hadn’t opened it with me there.
He didn’t know. Not yet. I closed the document with shaking fingers and marked the email as unread once again, while staring at the quiet room, my heart pounding hard enough to hurt.
All of it made sense now.
The kidnapping. The revenge. The auction. The hatred for my brothers. Everything.
“Ilana?” I was still staring into space when he called me out, his voice low and concerned.
I flinched, my heart jumping into my throat. I took a couple of seconds to steady myself before turning to look at Avgust as he stood up from the bed, his gaze on me.
“Why aren’t you in bed?”
“I couldn’t sleep,” I replied, too quickly.
His gaze moved from my face to the laptop. Then back to me.
“Come back,” he said simply. “It’s late.”
Something about the way he worded it, not as a command or a demand, but a request, shifted something inside me. This man, who had never been soft to probably anyone in his life, was being soft to me. I closed the laptop with deliberate calm, forcing my hands not to shake.
“Okay.”
He didn’t ask questions or press me for anything further.
I went back towards him and curled into his chest, resting my cheek over his beating heart, listening to its slow and steady rhythm.
His hand slid into my hair, fingers combing through it slowly.
His touch felt like everything I needed in the moment. A flash of calm after the storm.
“What’s wrong?” he asked softly.
I swallowed.
“Nothing.” I lied.
The word tasted bitter on my tongue.
He didn’t believe me. I felt it in the slight tightening of his arm, but he didn’t push. He only brought me closer, his body warm and solid against mine.
“Sleep,” he murmured. “We’ll deal with everything else tomorrow.”
Tomorrow.
The word echoed uncomfortably.
I tilted my head up to look at him, and he kissed me slowly, as if there were no secrets between us.
As if the world outside this room wasn’t closing in right this moment.
I kissed him back and let myself sink into the moment.
Right now, I wanted nothing but Avgust. As he pulled me closer and sleep finally claimed me in his arms, I held the secret tightly inside my chest.
For now. I would tell him, but only when the time was right.